[TCML] RF Ground and Brass

[Lau, Gary]

Hi Phil,

Your point about the wire not getting warm if it represents a high RF impedance is well taken, but I don't agree that gauging ground conductor suitability by spark performance is valid.  Many coilers have noted that performance is unaffected even when they accidentally forget to connect the secondary base to anything.  The consequence of having a good or bad RF ground connection is not variable performance.  It only affects how much RF gets coupled into your power mains.  In the absence of a good RF ground connection, the only other path to ground is through the power lines.

That's what makes the topic of "proper RF grounding" so difficult to resolve.  There is no known means of gauging success or quality.

Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA



> -----Original Message-----
> From: tesla-bounces at pupman.com [mailto:tesla-bounces at pupman.com] On
> Behalf Of FIFTYGUY at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 10:36 PM
> To: tesla at pupman.com
> Subject: Re: [TCML] RF Ground and Brass
>
>
>
> In a message dated 3/4/08 10:04:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> bartb at classictesla.com writes:
>
> >I haven't noticed the 18 awg getting warm, so I'm sure the small  length
> >from base to terminal is fine. Like everything else, if after  running, a
> coiler
> >finds the base current wire warm, then it's time to go bigger  (thermal
> losses
> >are never good). But if it's at ambient temp then "all is  good".
>
>
>     But on the other hand, if the grounding wire has  too high an RF
> impedance, it won't be carrying much current in the first place  and therefore won't
> even have a chance to get warm. By the same thinking, a  piece of nylon fishing
> line makes a fine ground wire.
>     The easy test is probably just empirical. Just keep  increasing the
> expense of the ground connection until you get a diminishing  return on
> performance. In my experience, 10 feet of 10ga stranded copper works  fine.
>
> -Phil LaBudde